Archive for the ‘White M3A1’ tag

While selling off an unused building last month netted the Dean V. Kruse Foundation about $1 million to apply against the debt that its namesake left the foundation, the foundation still needs to cover another $2 million to keep its two remaining museums open. To raise those funds, more than half of the National Military History Center‘s collection of wheeled, tracked, and half-track military vehicles will head to auction in December.

Among the massive pieces in the NMHC’s collection, the 1943-1944 Pacific M26 Dragon Wagon looms over them all. Designed by the Knuckey Truck Company of San Francisco, Pacific Car and Foundry of Renton, Washington, ended up building the six-wheel-drive, 48,890-pound tank recovery vehicle, powering it with a 240hp 1,040-cu.in. Hall-Scott Model 440 straight-six engine, four-speed transmission and three-speed transfer box. Twin 60,000-pound winches allowed it to pull disabled tanks onto its M15A1 trailer, rated for 45 tons, but once loaded up, the Dragon Wagon wasn’t going anywhere fast: Top speed was somewhere around 26-28 miles per hour. After World War II, the Dragon Wagon – at least in its lighter, unarmored guise – continued to prove useful tugging around Saturn V rockets for NASA. According to the auction description, this particular M26 Dragon Wagon wears U.S. 1st Army, 332nd Ordnance Battalion markings.

Where the Dragon Wagon specialized at one task, another World War II six-wheeler, the DUKW, ended up handling a multitude of duties. Built by GMC to ferry supplies from ships right up onto the beaches, the DUKW-353 was essentially GMC’s 2-1/2-ton CCKW-353 truck fitted with a watertight hull, propeller, rudder, and bilge pumps. As with the CCKW, GMC’s 94hp 270-cu.in. overhead-valve straight-six powered the 14,880-pound DUKW through a five-speed transmission to speeds of up to 50 MPH on land and 5 MPH in the water. According to the auction description, the DUKW in the NMHC’s collection wears the markings of the U.S. 1st Army, 818th Ammunition Battalion, 53rd Transportation Motor Pool, B Company.

According to Auctions America, the NMHC sale will be the largest offering of full- and half-track military vehicles at auction at once, and while the selection of half-tracks includes examples from Ford, Opel, Borgward, Auto Union, Hanomag, and Daimler-Benz, the half-track that most Americans will recognize (and the one that wins the award for most descriptive name) is the 1944 White M16 MGMC “meat chopper,” an anti-aircraft version of the M3A1 fitted with a powered and armored turret and four .50 caliber machine guns. Powered by a 148hp 386-cu.in. White 160AX six-cylinder engine, the 10-ton M16 could hit a top speed of about 40 MPH. According to the auction description, the White M16 in the collection wears the markings of the U.S. Army’s 1st batallion.

All but one of the vehicles in the auction will cross the block with no reserve. Auctions America’s National Military History Center collection auction will take place December 8 at the National Military History Center in Auburn, Indiana. For more information, visit AuctionsAmerica.com.

UPDATE (22.August 2014): At least a few of the vehicles from the NMHC collection – including the DUKW and the White “meat chopper” are coming up for sale again at this year’s Auctions America Auburn sale.

UPDATE (3.September 2014): The White meat chopper and the DUKW sold for $19,250 and $8,800, respectively, at the 2014 Auctions America Auburn sale.

It appears I was mistaken when I said last week that I’d plumbed the depths of military vehicles for sale on Hemmings.com. Jeremy, our in-house web dude, located a few others, starting with this 1943 White M3A1 halftrack, for sale out of Yardley, Pennsylvania. The seller writes:

restored, top speed 45 mph, new rubber track, repainted Jan 2008, all it needs is gas and you go to war.

Yes, I hang my head low this week, for I did not entirely follow through on my promise of one military vehicle per day for the month of March. Deadlines and travel schedules intervened, and I neglected to post any military vehicles the latter four days of the month. I cannot entirely make up for it, but I shall try.

Most passing military enthusiasts are surely familiar with the White halftrack, but it appears White also built a scout car version with four wheels instead of bogies at the back. White, Corbitt and Marmon-Herrington all seemed to have worked to develop such a scout car at around the same time, but White’s design, which eventually became the M3A1 in 1939, triumphed.

According to Crismon, White built more than 20,000 M3A1s from 1940 through 1944, weighing in at more than 8,500 pounds and powered either by the 110hp 320-cu.in. Hercules gasoline engine or by a 78hp 317-cu.in. Buda diesel engine. Armor plate ranged from 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch in thickness.

Apparently, its off-road ability sucked, thus the more successful half-track version. So I’m guessing it wouldn’t be a better choice in the backwoods than a Dodge Command Car. But if I had bullets flying all around me, I think I’d much rather be at the wheel of an M3A1.